Swanbourne Village could be the ticket for apartments near trains

SWANBOURNE Village could become a small public transport-orientated development (TOD) with up to 50 new homes in buildings up to four storeys tall.

The proposal is part of a draft study now available for public comment at the Town of Claremont.

“The proposed built forms respond to the height of the adjacent The Beaumont retirement village (three/four storeys) to the west along Claremont Crescent, and rising in topography from the intersection of Claremont Crescent and Franklin Street at the rear of the shops (parking area) facing Saladin Street,” a report said at the November 20 council meeting.

However, the council’s 2013 Draft Housing Capacity Study rejected using the village because of a limited ability for new homes, and heritage concerns.

“Time has moved on, and people understand you need to increase density around train stations,” Mayor Jock Barker said this week.

The vibrant shopping strip zoned R20 has 10 properties on the council’s heritage list, but it has to find 1300 new homes in the State Government’s Directions 2031 planning policy.

Some Swanbourne property owners have already asked if the mini-TOD could be created and Main Roads wants to build a new bridge between the village and its southern side in Cottesloe in 2019.

In 2017, the council asked consultants Game Planning Australia to develop the draft Swanbourne Local Centre Planning Study after seeking residents’ opinions on representations of under and over-development of the village to gauge what was acceptable.

The draft’s recommendations include protecting the streetscape so new developments were set back from heritage facades, converting Rob Roy Lane into a small plaza, two storeys on adjacent Rob Roy Street and maintaining the nearby car park.